Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Chapter 11

Enjoy!

Ichigo glared sullenly out the window of his office. A small raven black head popped around the corner and frowned when she saw him.

"Taicho! Stop moping about!"

Ichigo looked up, surprised.

"I'm not moping."

"Yes you are! Now wipe that stupid scowl off your face. Go do something to cheer up. Oh, I know! How about I'll take you out to ice-cream?"

"…"

"Great! Come with me, taicho! I know this fantastic ice-cream parlour! Yachiru took me there once and it was so good!"

"I-I can't… I'm busy."

"Busy doing what? Moping?"

"No! I'm supposed to be doing paperwork!"

"Aww taicho. Why don't you just forget about your paperwork for once? Leave it to me. I'll finish it for you."

Ichigo looked up at the smiling face of his fukutaicho and sighed.

"Fine. Just this once, though."

"Yay! You'll love it, taicho! I just know it!"

"Sure I will." He grumbled as he was pushed out of the room.

In a way, Hinamori Momo was Ichigo's Rukia when Rukia wasn't there. She cheered him up when he was sad and was always dependant on for help. Ichigo was thankful to have her by his side. If it weren't for her, he would never have been able to pull through the things that troubled him most. Namely Karin.

Momo never asked questions. She just accepted when he needed his alone time or when he needed to be with a friend. She always knew what to say and what to do and for this, Ichigo was grateful.

…

"That big nosed bastard."

Karin walked from one side of the room to another.

"He wanted to see my techniques. My SECRET techniques."

She stopped and glared out the window before pacing once more.

"As if I'd show him, the idiot."

"I don't even know him. He's a complete stranger to me."

At this sentence Karin paused and licked her dry lips. She willed herself to continue but found she couldn't. The next sentence she was about to say yelled out from her mind.

Seriously I'd kill myself if I were ever related to him.

But as much as she tried, she couldn't bring those words out of her mouth.

"That's funny." She wondered out loud and found that she could say anything but that sentence.

"Orange juice."

"I like to eat ham and cheese."

"There is no such thing as swine flu."

"Blue jelly."

She frowned. She was no child prodigy but she knew that something or another was going on. Sighing, she walked into the bathroom just for something to do.

Catching sight of herself in the mirror, Karin briefly remembered what she had thought just before she had left to see Yoruichi and 'that damned orange headed bastard'.

She picked up a strand of black hair and tugged it, feeling the reality of it all. Then she grinned and shunpo'ed out her room.

…

It didn't take too long.

And for that she was grateful, she still had some training to catch up to. Otherwise Kichiro would be booting her ass for her laziness. Not that she deserved it. Her soccer skills were already high above his, as if he could have the nerve to reprimand her for slacking off.

But he could. And she knew he could. And so she raced back to the academy as fast as she could to burn off some unneeded energy and go over her techniques. Her dark red hair had extensions and was flying behind her as she shunpo'ed in the direction of the Shinigami academy.

She scanned her phone quickly for the time.

Shit, it was already 5:00. The hairdressers must have taken longer than she had thought. Her curfew to be outside on the ovals was 6:30. She had to be quick if she wanted a decent amount of time to train.

Karin quickly calculated the sums.

It would take her approximately another three quarters of an hour to get back to Seireitei. Then she had to get the head of training ground's permission to train on the academy's oval. That would take about 10-15 minutes if she were lucky.

And that would leave her with about 30 minutes to play soccer.

Dammit. She had to be fast.

…

Toshirou sighed and got up from his desk. He checked the time from a clock hanging on his wall.

5:15.

He might as well go look for Karin again. He had a few hours to kill. His curfew was not until 9:00.

He picked up Hyourinmaru, (just in case), and walked slowly towards the door.

It swung open and a surprisingly sober looking Matsumoto walked in.

"Oh hey, taicho." She looked suspiciously at him. "Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Why don't you try the North Rukongai today? You might have better luck than from the South Rukongai."

"If I have time, I will."

"Okay, good luck."

"Thank you."

Then he left, and within seconds, Matsumoto concluded, he had left the building.

…

Karin hated interruptions. And today was no different. She was in a hurry, freaking hell.

Stupid shinigami. She thought angrily as she picked herself off the ground.

The white haired shinigami looked at her in surprise as she rejected his offer to help her up.

"I'm sorry about that." He said quietly.

Karin glared at him.

"Yeah you should be. I'm late now."

She was already late before but hey, did it really matter?

…

Toshirou looked at the rude and off-putting girl before him in surprise and frowned.

"That's no way to speak to a Captain of the Gotei 13."

"Oh so you're a captain?" She asked sarcastically.

He nodded distractedly. Her red hair was really kind of putting him off. It didn't suit her in the least.

"What did you say about my hair?" She growled.

Shit. He thought. I said that out loud?

Karin didn't give him time to reply.

"Well I could say that your hair looks so completely fake and that you bleached it and it looks so unnaturally off but I didn't now, did I?" She screeched angrily.

"Look, I'm sorry okay? But I'm busy and I need to find someone. By the way, it's completely natural. My hair, I mean."

Karin huffed in annoyance and turned away.

"Yeah? Don't mind me, I'll be leaving riiiiiiiiiight… NOW!"

She shot off back in the direction of Seireitei fuming at the way he treated her so unrespectfully.

He had the nerve to say that my red hair didn't suit me? She thought angrily.

But she had to admit, even though she had said the opposite, his hair did suit him.

…

Toshirou shook his head in disbelief at her directness and shunpo'ed off. That red-haired girl was really annoying. She was so rude and impolite. She didn't even care that he was at the rank of a captain.

Toshirou sighed again. She was a girl who believed in democracy.

- So much like another he was trying to find. -

R&R Please!

Thanks! ^^